The secret construction of a port that was towed across an ocean
In short: In 1943, thousands of workers built massive concrete structures in total secrecy under the Official Secrets Act. They never knew what they were making until it was time to move it.
To supply two million soldiers during the Normandy landings, the Allies needed a port that didn't exist on the French coast. The solution was 'Mulberry': a massive prefabricated harbor built in Britain and sunk into the sea to evade German reconnaissance. It was later refloated and towed 80 miles across the English Channel at a walking pace of four knots by a fleet of 150 tugs.
The project involved pouring concrete in flooded cofferdams throughout the winter of 1943. While engineering records meticulously detail every mix design and structural specification, the names of the workers remain absent from history. Once assembled at Arromanches, the harbor offloaded 2.5 million men and four million tons of supplies over five months.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: How Workers Built the Mulberry Harbors and Towed an Entire Port Across the English Channel
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